“There simply aren’t enough media dollars in the hands of any marketer today to address brand challenges he or she faces in this topsy-turvy media ecosystem. Z.E.R.O. shows an alternative path, one that’s driven by direct consumer relationships without media companies serving as intermediaries. Yes, it’s a daunting, intimidating future, but probably the lifeline for most brands.”

Shiv Singh

Head of Global Brand and Marketing Transformation, Visa Inc.

“In the past few years, the volume of change in the media industry has been unprecedented – and it shows no signs of stopping. For Marketers looking to navigate the noise and come out on top, Jaffe and Albarda deliver an invaluable road map.”

B. Bonin Bough

Vice President of Global Media and Consumer Engagement, Mondelēz International

Joseph Jaffe

CoFounder Evol8tion, Author

Maarten Albarda

Founder, MLA Consulting LLC

In three sections, authors Jaffe and Albarda outline the problems and challenges that are leading to the Perfect Storm approaching (Section 1), the introduction and delivery of the Z.E.R.O. Manifesto (section 2) in which the vision and idea of Z.E.R.O is presented, and finally a ten point Action Plan with pragmaticrecommendations marketers can start doing to ensure not just survival, but also the ability to thrive in the turbulent (and yet exciting) world that lies ahead.

+ The Problem

Our position is that a perfect storm is coming…in fact it may already be here. To make this case, we introduce several key arguments: business, economic, consumer, media and creative cases – any of which could – by itself - be enough to be the straw that breaks the camel's back, but when combined presents a perfect storm scenario.

+ The Z.E.R.O. Vision

The Z.E.R.O. Manifesto holds that in a perfect world, the optimal paid media budget would be zero. Why? Because businesses – small and large and brands would have enough customers; enough word-of-mouth; enough rabid fans and advocates; enough referrals; enough partnerships with entrepreneurs, startups and technology investments; and last but not least, enough assets to activate, amplify and monetize. What is an asset? Your people. Your products. Your packaging. Your clothing. Your billboards. Your trucks. Your stores. Your website. Your content.

+ The Z.E.R.O. Action Plan

Talk is cheap. So many books outline a problem, without putting forward a solution. Section through introduces a 10-point action plan, which presents 5 ways companies can implement Z.E.R.O. Internally (Cultural, Organizational), as well as 5 ways they can truly bring Z.E.R.O. to life externally (Strategic, Tactical). From compensation to budget setting; from flipping the funnel to innovation. It's all inside.

By way of context, if you don't know Sarah Fay, you should. I met her about 15 years ago back in the early days of digital. At the time she was running Carat Digital. Since then, she's run Isobar, Aegis...

Editor's note: Yes, I know I just posted a few days ago that I won't have as much time as I used to have to write on my own blog. And here I am, only a few days later with a post. Let's just say that the writing bug hit me after...